Legislators seek to close mo-ped loophole

Drink and drive a riding mower or tractor, and you could be charged with driving under the influence. But mo-ped drivers cannot be charged with DUI under the current law.

By KIM KIMZEYkim.kimzey@shj.com

Drink and drive a riding mower or tractor, and you could be charged with driving under the influence. But mo-ped drivers cannot be charged with DUI under the current law.Spartanburg County lawmakers will push to change that in the upcoming legislative session.Rep. Derham Cole, R-Spartanburg, and Rep. Eddie Tallon, R-Spartanburg, have pre-filed a bill to amend the law to include mo-peds as motor vehicles.Under the current definition, motor vehicles are: “Every vehicle which is self-propelled, except mopeds, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, is a ‘motor vehicle.’”Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette backs the bill.“To me, it’s a no brainer,” he said.Law enforcement officers can be placed in a “terrible position” when a mo-ped driver is under the influence, he said.Capt. Regina Nowak with the Spartanburg Public Safety Department said officers look at incidents “case by case.” She said impaired mo-ped drivers can be charged with public intoxication or other offenses depending on the situation.Sgt. Kelley Hughes with the S.C. Highway Patrol said many scooters on the roads don’t fall under the strict definition of mo-peds. That definition includes a motor “not more than 50 cubic centimeters which produces not to exceed two brake horsepower … ” and cannot go faster than 30 miles per hour on “level ground,” among other specifications.Hughes said a vehicle is not a mo-ped if it fails to meet one of those requirements. And even if a mo-ped driver is drunk, they can still be charged with public drunkenness, he pointed out.

Yet there are challenges for prosecutors.In March 2010, charges were quashed against a man who drove down a Cherokee County highway while under the influence of alcohol and failed to stop for an officer, because he was on a mo-ped.Last October, a Una man pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and battery in connection to a scooter crash that injured a woman.Clarence Ray Simmons, 52, was driving south on Stephens Grove Road in Una about 9 p.m. July 27, 2011 when he ran off the left side of the road. Simmons hit a ditch and overturned, ejecting him and a passenger from the scooter and causing the scooter to flip onto the passenger.Barnette told Circuit Judge R. Ferrell Cothran at the plea hearing that Simmons was drinking prior to the accident. Simmons had been charged with felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, but could not be prosecuted for that crime under the state law, Barnette said.Simmons received a 7-year sentence, suspended to two years’ probation and credit for time serve. He also was ordered to pay $3,180 in restitution for the victim’s medical bills.“We have to take any driver under the influence of alcohol and drugs off the road to protect the public from being injured or hurt,” Barnette said.Cole and Tallon first introduced the bill during the last legislative session. The bill made it through the State House, but died in the Senate, Tallon said.Though mo-ped drivers travel at a slower rate of speed, Cole said they can be just as dangerous as someone driving a car while impaired.Cole sees no reason for mo-peds to be excluded under the definition of motor vehicles and thinks all drivers should “have their faculties about them just” regardless of the mode of transportation.

Cole said the bill is a “common sense change to law” that will assist law enforcement in keeping people safe and assist in the prosecution of these cases.“It does affect more than just the person driving the mo-ped,” Tallon said.He said a drunk driver on a mo-ped can hurt others and themselves, the later resulting in a cost to taxpayers who might foot the bill for their hospitalization and disability.“There should not have been an exemption put in the law, and we’re trying to rectify that problem. Hopefully, we’ll get it passed this time,” Tallon said.

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